FSHO: Tokens, medals, exonumia, errors. Many better pieces!
jonathanb
Posts: 3,654 ✭✭✭✭✭
My New Year's resolution is to focus a bit. I've picked up lots of stuff over the years that was just too cool to pass up. It's time to see if I can find homes for some of the pieces that are still cool but simply don't fit in my collection.
I'd be happy to consider trades f someone wants to propose something creative. I like US Mint medals and So-Called Dollars primarily, but I'd be happy to listen to any proposal as long as you don't get offended if I end up declining.
See also my listing of US Mint medals for trade.
See also my eBay listings. I'm starting with my least-interesting stuff on eBay. We'll see how long I can stand doing eBay listings before I need to take a break. The stuff in this post generally won't be on eBay for a long time, if at all.
SUMMARY: Tokens/Medals/Exonumia
- Over 100 PPIE tickets and ephemera including Sample tickets — Huge Collection!
- 1902 Wells Fargo So-Called Dollar HK-296 in original case
- 1923 Monroe Doctrine Motion Picture Exhibition badge SOLD
- (1873) Great Seal of he Confederate States of America, copper electrotype shell, in original case
- (1962) Coinage of the Confederacy six-piece set by Robert Bashlow
- 1861 Major Anderson tribute medal Fort Sumter by George H. Lovett SOLD
- 1854 Crystal Palace three-piece boxed bronze medal set
- 1872H Inverted A for V in Victoria Canada 50c high grade ornate love token
- 1796 JR-5 10c engraved memorial love token fully identified SOLD
- 1889 George Washington inaugural centennial medal in SILVER shells
- c1850 J. Allender counterfeit detector scale
- Framed copper medallion shell (?) signed C. M. Fec.
- Watercolor of Red Jacket wearing his Indian Peace medal
SUMMARY: Errors (pics by request for these bulk lots)
- Set of 5 US Mint coinage dies (canceled), all showing design elements
- Over 70 Lincoln RPMs including several Cherrypickers varieties.
- Huge cud collection. 61 cuds, 4 collar cuds, and bunch of rim cuds on various denominations.
- Huge collection of 84 blank planchets.
- 13 war nickels with clips, 9 of them unc. Includes one double clip. Plus 10 other nickels with clips.
- 14 quarters with clips, one silver (1956, double clip AU), including 7 double clips and a triple clip.
- 12 dimes with clips, including 7 silver, plus a 1964 50c and a 1979-S SBA $1.
- 6 Indian cents with clips, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1907, 1908. All circulated, most VG-F.
- 43 mixed denominations with partial collar strikes.
- 10 mixed denominations with rim burrs.
- 12 nickels and 2 quarters with partial or heavy copper wash.
- 38 "BIE" Lincoln cents (1950-D, 1951-D, 1955 x4, 1955-D, 1955-S, 1956 x8, 1957 x20, 1957-D x3)
- Partial date/mm collection of laminated Lincoln cents, including 1909-S
(I'm splitting this into several parts because it seems that there's a length limit to a single post. Who knew!)
Comments
Over 100 PPIE tickets and ephemera including Sample tickets -- Huge Collection!
I hardly know where to start… This groups contains a massive collection of over 100 tickets and related paper ephemera from the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition. Highlights include (exact numbers may vary a bit, depending on how you do the counting):
…and the proverbial "much, much, more." A complete list follows.
As for condition... these pieces have all been stored flat for a long time, and they look very good as a result. Still, this is a collection of paper items that were originally meant to be used. Several pieces have staple marks, some of which are rusty. Some have pin marks. A few have tears. Please look at the pictures and ask questions if you have concerns about any specific item.
$6,000
COMPLETE LIST (in the same order as the pictures, unless I messed up)
1902 Wells Fargo So-Called Dollar HK-296 in original case
Not an incredibly rare piece as So-Called Dollars go, but very popular. The case here is in pretty good condition, with some wear as shown. The medal is in great condition. I have another example of this medal slabbed as NGC MS-61, and this one is much, much, better than that piece. I haven't tried slabbing this, and I don't intend to since I like it in the original box.You'd be hard put to find a nicer one, though, slabbed or not.
$1,600
Or if anyone prefers slabbed examples:
$900 NGC MS-61 (no box)
$500 NGC Unc details rim damage (no box)
1923 Monroe Doctrine Motion Picture Exhibition badge
Official Guest badge for the 1923 Motion Picture Exposition, featuring the Monroe Doctrine commemorative half dollar.
A similar badge sold at Stack's in 2011 for just under $3,200, and a second one sold at Stack's in 2015 for a bit over $3,500 with some related ephemera.
The Motion Picture Exposition and its associated badge were featured in the February 2015 issue of The Numismatist, with lots more information about both. That article stated that there were three examples known of the badge. This example would presumably be the fourth.
This badge has a plain suspension bar, without the COLUMBIA engraving that was on the two Stack’s specimens. Other than that, the condition seems quite a bit nicer than the first one sold by Stack’s and possibly comparable to the second. This one comes with a cotton-lined cardboard box that’s from the right period but wrong manufacturer (Joseph K. Davison), with some writing on the bottom that I can’t make out. The badge itself has the expected TIFFANY / & CO / STERLING markings on the back of the suspension bar.
SOLD
(1873) Great Seal of the Confederate States of America, copper electrotype shell, in original case
One of 1,000 produced by New York electrotyper Samuel H. Black from the original seal (currently in the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond). The proceeds from the sale of these pieces were given to support Southern widows and orphans. Peter Bertram's recent book on Confederate Numismatica devotes eight pages to the history and production of Confederate Great Seal and its electrotypes.
The case on this example is slightly worn (as are most examples), mainly on the corners. Within the case the electrotype and its protective glass cover are in as-new condition.
$2,000
(1962) Coinage of the Confederacy six-piece set by Robert Bashlow
Six-piece set of Confederate restrikes produced by Robert Bashlow in 1962. Includes cent and half dollar pieces in each of bronze, goldine, and silver. The cents are fairly obtainable, with 20,000 struck in bronze and 5,000 struck in each of goldine and silver. The half dollars are much rarer, although I can't find a mintage listed in any of the sources I checked. Regarding these six-piece sets, Peter Bertram's recent book on Confederate Numismatica reports that "only a couple dozen or so are currently known" and speculates that "The total number was likely less than 100."
$2,000
1861 Major Anderson tribute medal Fort Sumter by George H. Lovett
Produced by George H. Lovett and sold by Augustus B. Sage starting only a few weeks after the start of the Civil war. #100 in Jaeger and Bowers 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens.
SOLD
1854 Crystal Palace three-piece boxed bronze medal set
Very nice three-piece set of medals produced in commemoration of the London Crystal Palace after its reopening in Sydenham in 1854. Each of the medals is bronze, 63 mm in diameter.
The three medals are housed together in their original green-plush-lined rectangular case. The outside of the case is leather (or leather-like, anyway -- I don't know how to tell) with brass fittings and gilt borders. The center of the top bears the gilt lettering C. P. C., for the Crystal Palace Corporation. There is some wear on the case but it is in far better condition than many other cases I have seen from this period.
For those who keep track of such things, this was part of lot 559 of the Bonhams 7 Oct 2009 sale where it was described as the personal set of Matthew Digby Wyatt a noted British architect and Secretary of Great Exhibition among other things. Unfortunately the medals are uninscribed so there's nothing to back that up. Makes for a good story though.
The rightmost medal (as pictured) is the large-size version of the medal catalogued as a So-Called Dollar, HK-8 and HK-8a, in its smaller format.
$1,200
1872H Inverted A for V in Victoria Canada 50c high grade ornate love token
It's fun -- even if usually pointless -- to look at a love token and imagine the date of the original host coin. In this case, there is no imagination needed. This love token for Alice was ornately engraved on a 1872-H Inverted A for V in Victoria Canada 50 cent piece, where the V in Victoria is actually an A punched upside down.
I grade what's left of the host coin as VF or so... which doesn't mean a whole lot now that it's a love token. It's a very nice love token to be sure, with a full name that's still in use, and an intact original pinback also.
The 1872H Inverted A for V in Victoria is one of the key dates in the Canada 50c series, especially in higher grade. It's a shame to see a key date coin as a love token. On the other hand — what a conversation piece!
$400
1796 JR-5 10c engraved memorial love token fully identified
This is one of the coolest things I've ever found, and was the subject of a long thread when I posted it a year or so ago. Someone took a first-year-of-issue 1796 dime and engraved it in memory of a woman who died in 1802. Thanks to Google, I was able to identify the exact woman being remembered: Hannah Bartlett was born on March 25, 1782 and died on Nov. 12, 1802 to Hannah and Dr. Joseph Bartlett of Salisbury, NH. The original link that I found is no longer online (bummer), but other board members found Hannah's birth certificate and located her gravestone.
Although the date was smoothed off this piece to make room for the engraving, you can still barely make out the 6 if you catch the light just right. If anything, the picture is maybe a bit clearer in this case than looking at the coin in hand — I only looked for the 6 on the coin after I saw it in the picture. Even without the date, this can be identified based on the remaining design elements and especially the diagnostic die mark at the 8:00 rim on the reverse, which is only present on the 1796 JR-5. The JR-5 variety also happens to be one of the better varieties (R-5) for the date.
I'd say the host coin was F or so, judging by the strength of the eagle on the reverse. I'm pricing this between F and VF values. Compare to Heritage archives, where several "Fine Details" 1796 dimes have sold in the $3,000 range, none of them having anywhere near the backstory this piece does.
SOLD
1889 George Washington inaugural centennial medal in SILVER shells
Douglas 53A. Silver cast, 115.8 mm diameter, 7.2 mm thick. By Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Philip Martiny.
The 4-inch Washington Inaugural Centennial medal by St. Gaudens is practically common in bronze. It is NOT common in silver. Stacks has sold two different specimens three times total over the past ~10 years, for $52,900, $46,000 (same piece), and $34,500 (different piece), plus once in 2012 that apparently didn’t sell (first piece). [I’ve extracted PDFs of the listings from the Stack's catalogs since I had a hard time finding them on the web site. I can send those PDFs to anyone who wants to see them.]
This piece is a little different. The listings for those last three sales reference an earlier sale: “An oddly assembled though related piece was lot 434 in our January 2002 sale consisting of two shells joined by a 7.5 millimeter silver bezel.” That matches this one. I don’t have the earlier catalog to do a plate match. I suspect that mine is a different example, although the weight for mine (392.8 grams) is basically the same as the reported weight for the 2002 specimen (392.5 grams).
The part I don’t get is why Stack’s insists on pooh-poohing the bezeled version. The quality is excellent, both for the obverse/reverse faces and even for the bezel itself. The bezel is not a cheap thing that you see with jewelry, but clearly produced by someone who knew what they were doing and cared to do it right. Given that we know that these pieces were produced with the obverse and reverse halves cast separately and then joined, I see no reason to doubt that this was produced at the same time and by the same people who produced all the other versions. If this really is a different specimen than was sold in 2002, having two similar specimens would also lend credence that this was an intentional production and not a one-off thing.
In fact, I sort of like the bezel, as it provides some measure of protection to the very high relief designs that otherwise would be fully exposed. If anything, I wish the bezel was a little wider, since there is a bit of rub on the high points (especially the eagle’s shield on the reverse) even so.
The bottom line is that while I can sell it for less than those other Stack's listings, I’m not going to sell it for a pooh-pooh price.
$12,000
c1850 J. Allender counterfeit detector scale
Brass. I think this originally had a counterweight, which is no longer present.
$150
Framed copper medallion shell (?) signed C. M. Fec.
The C. M. signature and general style looks to me like Charles Muller. If so, that suggests that the portrait is some Civil War-era personality. He looks familiar to me, but I can’t place him. Can you?
I think this is a bronze shell rather than a solid medal, but I haven’t taken the (fairly nice) frame apart to confirm. Frame is approximately 9 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches; central medallion approximately 2 1/2 inches.
$200
Watercolor of Red Jacket wearing his Indian Peace medal
I saw this and immediately recognized what it was, at least as far as “Wasn’t there some famous book with pictures of Indians wearing their Indian Peace Medals?” This is the portrait of the Seneca Chief Red Jacket published in the History of the Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas McKenney and James Hall. Yes, there is! (That version is depiced as part of listing #5 in Jaeger and Bowers 100 Greatest American Medals and Tokens.)
The main reason I bought this is because while I recognized the image, this is NOT the portrait from the book. The book has lithographs. This is a watercolor. That suggests to me one of two things. Either it was copied from the book at a later point, or it was an early draft/sketch/whatever produced for the book. If this was made for the book, I have a feeling that it would be a pretty big deal.
I don’t pretend to be an expert on documents. This one does have that old style of ink where the edges of the strokes are bleeding into the paper and the centers of the strokes are hollowing out. I forget the technical term, but I know that’s an important indicator of genuinely old documents. The letting is also very much an old style script.
Original document is approximately 242 x 290 mm, apparently cut down from something larger as a few letters are cut off and I see the tips of a few more letters on the bottom. That document is mounted on a second piece slightly larger, approximately 248 x 303 mm. I don’t see a signature. The back side is blank except for some pencil shading. There is a horizontal fold about 2/3 of the way down.
$900
(Pictures on request for these large groups of errors)
Set of 5 US Mint coinage dies (canceled), all showing design elements
From time to time the US Mint released the actual dies used to produce circulating coinage. Most of the dies of this sort were released in 1968, so that's typically the date to assume when you have no other information. The dies were supposed to be canceled by obliterating the design face with a blowtorch, and most of the dies were truly obliterated, leaving nothing more than a die-shaped hunk of steel with no hint of the original design.
This group is unusual in that all five of these dies have significant portions of the original design. They include:
SOLD
Over 70 Lincoln RPMs including several Cherrypickers varieties. Assume circulated for the earlier dates and BU for the later ones, although there are some exceptions on both ends.
$250
1938-S #1
1940-D #2
1942-D #5
1944-D #2, 3, 4, 6
1946-D #6
1949-S #3
1951-D #2, 8, 10, 17, 21
1952-D #2, 3, 4, 11
1953-D #1, 2, 3, 11
1953-S #5, 6
1954-D #1, 3
1954-S #1 ,5
1955-D #2, 4
1956-D #1,3, 5, 8, 10
1957-D #1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11
1958-D #1, 17
1959-D #1, 2, 4, 5, 9, WRPM #003 (D inside 9)
1960-D #2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 16, 19, 23, 49, 50, 60, 62, 109
1961-D #1 (D/horizontal D), 7, 21, 44
1962-D #1, 2, 3, 5
[I'm not set up to take microphotos, sorry]
Huge cud collection. 61 cuds, 4 collar cuds, and bunch of rim cuds on various denominations.
SOLD
1905 1c cud IC-05-2R VG
1943 1c reverse retained cud unlisted
1943 1c reverse retained cud unlisted
1943 1c cud LC-43-20R XF
1944 1c cud LC-44-5R XF
1944 1c cud unlisted early stage of LC-44-6 or LC-44-7?
1944 1c cud LC-44-15 XF
1944 1c cud LC-44-15B AU
1944 1c cud LC-45—1 XF
1946 1c cud LC-46-3RB XF
1956 1c reverse retained cud unlisted
ND Wheat 1c cud LC-ND-13 AU
1969-D 1c cud LC-69D-5 Unc
1970-S 1c cud LC-70S-4 Unc
1971-S 1c cud LC-71S-4 BU
1974 1c cud LC-74-1 Unc
1974-D 1c cud LC-74D-4A BU
1974-D 1c cud LC-74D-7 BU
1975-D 1c cud LC-75D-2B BU
1976 1c cud LC-76-1 BU
1977 1c cud LC-77-2a BU
1981 1c cud LC-81-2B BU
1982 1c cud LC-82LC-5-Cu Unc
1982 1c cud LC-82LD-6-Cu Unc
1982 1c cud LC-82LD-6-Cu BU
1982 1c cud LC-82-18LD-Cu BU
1983 1c cud LC-83-unlisted
1983 1c reverse retained cud huge unlisted
1984 1c cud LC-84-6 BU
1984 1c cud LC-84-7 BU
1985 1c cud LC-85-7R BU
1990-D 1c cud LC-90D-unlisted huge cud reverse
1995 1c cud LC-95-3 Unc highpoint scrapes
1995 1c cud LC-95-3 Unc
1995 1c cud LC-95-3 BU
1999 1c cud LC-99R-3A huge cud BU
1999 1c cud LC-99R-3A huge cud and broadstrike BU
1999 1c cud LC-99R-3A huge cud and broadstrike BU
1999 1c cud LC-99R-3A huge cud and broadstrike BU
ND 1c cud LC-ND-12 Unc
ND 1c cud LC-ND-15 Unc
ND 1c cud LC-ND-33 BU
NC 1c cud LC-ND-unlisted Unc
1956 1c rim cud AU
1975 1c rim cud BU
1976 1c rim cud BU
1982 1c rim cud BU
1983 1c rim cud BU
1984 1c rim cud BU
1985 1c rim cud BU
1985 1c rim cud BU
1865 3cn TCNC-1865-14 VG
1867 3cn TCNC-1867-2RA Ret Unc
1874 3cn TCNC-1874-2R AU
1970-D 5c cud JNC-70D-unlisted similar to -1B and -6
1979 5c cud JNC-79-1 BU
1982-P 5c cud JNC-82P-1A Unc
1982-P 5c cud JNC-82P-2B BU1983-P 5c cud JNC-83P-1 AU
1983-P 5c cud JNC-83P-2B Unc
1983-P 5c cud JNC-83P-5 AU
1987-P cud JNC-87P-3R Unc
1993-P 5c cud JNC-93P-unlisted unc
1996-P 5c cud and broadstrike BU
ND 5c cud JNC-ND-1A BU
ND-5c cud JNC-ND-2 Unc
1972-D 10c cud RDC-72D-1 Unc
1966 10c rim cud AU
1983-P 10c rim cud BU
1966 25c base of bust precud die break
1966 25c cud WQC-66-1R Unc
1980-D 25c cud WQC-80D-1R Unc
2005-P 25c West Virginia cud BU
2005-P 25c Oregon cud BU
ND 25c cud WQC-ND-9 BU
ND 25c cud WQC-ND-19 XF
1977-D 25c obverse rim cud BU
1983-P 50c rim cud AU
1983-P 50c rim cud AU
1924-D Germany 10 rentenpfennig cud XF
1995 1c collar cud BU
1989-P 5c collar crack aU
1989-P 5c large collar cud AU
1973-D 10c collar cud BU
Huge collection of 84 blank planchets. Yes, a lot of them are common, but a lot of them are not.
$1,000
1c Cu Type 1 x3
1c Cu Type 2 x17
1c Zn Type 2 x13
1c unplated Zn Type 1 x5
1c unplated Zn Type 2 x6
5c Type 1 x4
5x Type 2 x5
10c silver Type 1 x4
10c silver Type 2 x6
10c clad Type 1 x4
10c clad Type 2 x8
25c clad Type 1
25c clad Type 2 x5
50c silver Type 1
50c silver Type 2 x4
50c 40% silver Type 1 x2
$1 SBA Type 1
$1 SBA Type 2
$1 Sacajawea Type 2
[pics by request. They look like blank planchets.]
13 war nickels with clips, 9 of them unc. Includes one double clip. Plus 10 other nickels with clips (including a 20% clip and 4 double clips), for a total of 23.
$80
14 quarters with clips, one silver (1956, double clip AU), including 7 double clips and a triple clip.
$270
12 dimes with clips, including 7 silver, plus a 1964 50c and a 1979-S SBA $1.
$130
6 Indian cents with clips, 1903, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1907, 1908. All circulated, most VG-F.
$50
43 mixed denominations with partial collar strikes. Includes 14 cents (including 1944, 1945, 1945 all red unc), 15 nickels, 8 dimes, 5 quarters, and a 1991-P 50c.
$80
10 mixed denominations with rim burrs. Includes 1 cent, 2 nickels, 2 dimes, 2 quarters, 2 half dollars, and a SBA $1.
$30
12 nickels and 2 quarters with partial or heavy copper wash.
$10
38 "BIE" Lincoln cents (1950-D, 1951-D, 1955 x4, 1955-D, 1955-S, 1956 x8, 1957 x20, 1957-D x3)
$40
Partial date/mm collection of laminated Lincoln cents. Includes over 140 pieces, over 90 different date/mintmark combinations. Many early dates, including 1909-S (VF details, reverse scratch).
$120
PM sent
Amazing job of listing and way cool stuff. Well done
M
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Wow. What a list! I clicked on this with my phone....it's still hung up. Not sure it will ever recover.
I would love to have several items on this list. Too bad I just bought a bunch of stuff.
PM sent.
I am a collector
And things, well things
They tend to accumulate